Methods, systems, and products for gesture-activated appliances

Abstract

Methods, systems, and products are disclosed for operating home appliances using gesture recognition. A sequence of video images is received and compared to a stored sequence of gesture images. A recognized gesture is associated to a home appliance and to an operation of the home appliance. An appliance controller causes a response to the recognized gesture to perform the operation of the home appliance.

1. A method for operating an appliance, comprising:
 receiving a sequence of video images; 
 comparing the sequence of video images by a processor to a sequence of gesture images stored in memory; 
 associating a recognized gesture to the appliance; 
 accessing a data store in the memory that associates the recognized gesture to an operation of the appliance; and 
 causing a controller to respond to the recognized gesture to perform the operation of the appliance. 
 
   
   
     2. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising generating a voltage to operate the appliance. 
   
   
     3. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising receiving an indication that the operation has been performed. 
   
   
     4. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising opening a switch connected to the controller. 
   
   
     5. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising closing a switch connected to the controller. 
   
   
     6. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising sampling a video signal to obtain the sequence of video images. 
   
   
     7. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising setting a temperature in response to the gesture. 
   
   
     8. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising turning on a light in response to the gesture. 
   
   
     9. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising segmenting a video signal to obtain the sequence of video images. 
   
   
     10. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising deriving positional data of the gesture within a frame. 
   
   
     11. The method according to  claim 10 , further comprising comparing the positional data corresponding to the gesture to each of a set of stored sequences of positional data to determine if the gesture is the recognized gesture. 
   
   
     12. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising generating a sound to indicate the operation has been performed. 
   
   
     13. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising generating a distinct sound for each different operation performed. 
   
   
     14. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising comparing the sequence of video images to stored sign language gestures. 
   
   
     15. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising powering on the appliance in response to the gesture. 
   
   
     16. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising powering off the appliance in response to the gesture. 
   
   
     17. A system for operating an appliance, comprising:
 a processor executing code stored in memory that causes the processor to: 
 receive a sequence of video images; 
 compare the sequence of video images to a stored sequence of gesture images; 
 associate a recognized gesture to the appliance; 
 access a data store that associates the recognized gesture to an operation of the appliance; and 
 cause a controller to respond to the recognized gesture to perform the operation of the appliance. 
 
   
   
     18. The system according to  claim 17 , further comprising code that causes the processor to indicate that the operation has been performed. 
   
   
     19. The system according to  claim 17 , further comprising code that causes the processor to power on the appliance in response to the gesture. 
   
   
     20. The system according to  claim 17 , further comprising code that causes the processor to power off the appliance in response to the gesture.